Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has insisted that the swap deal with Arsenal involving Alexis Sanchez and Henrikh Mkhitaryan is yet to be finalised.
The Red Devils are in talks with Arsenal for the signature of Sanchez, with Mkhitaryan joining Arsenal as part of a straight swap, but the deal is yet to be finalised.
Manchester United have already agreed the terms of a contract with the Chilean, but Mkhitaryan is yet to agree a contract with Arsenal and both players did report for training this morning at their respective clubs.
And Mourinho admits that despite all the talk, the deal involving all the parties is yet to be agreed and for the moment he wants to focus on the weekend's trip to Burnley.
“I think clearly everybody knows that we are there”, the Manchester United manager said in a press conference.
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“And especially when the Arsenal manager speaks so clearly like he did there is no point in trying to hide or deny.
“But it is not done at all, so in this moment Mkhitaryan our player, Sanchez an Arsenal player and with a match tomorrow I want to switch off and focus on the most important thing, which is the match.”
Mourinho also insisted that he is not getting directly involved in the negotiations and is letting the relevant people to chalk out the agreement.
Asked what is holding up the deal, he said: “I don’t know. Sometimes people think transfers involve a lot the managers in the negotiations.
“I think it depends on the profile of the club, the way we establish our jobs and in my case when it goes to the table of negotiations I like to be out, I am out and I will just calmly be waiting for news, no more than that.”
The Manchester United manager did confirm Mkhitaryan will not play against Burnley despite being fit.
“No, [Mkhitaryan is] not selected. But in very good condition, training really well and in good conditions like the others.”
